Yes, Self Assessment *is* taxing

Despite what the adverts say, it's never quite as easy as they make it out to be.

I'm willing to bet that most people who have to submit a personal tax return hate doing it and will procrastinate until the last minute. There have been well-publicised issues with the HMRC online web service when the load increased to such levels as to bring the service down. I'm generally quite cautious and although I'll not deal with my tax return at the last minute, I'll try to get it done well before the final deadline. However, it's still a chore and one that I never feel I have the energy for to tackle it mid-week. It' s a weekend job. I'm willing to bet that it's the last thing most people want to think about when they return from their day jobs during the week.

Full service available except where indicated belowFriday 20 November 06:00 – Monday 23 November 06:00Due to a scheduled upgrade, if you use our HMRC software you will be unable to access our online service between 06:00 on Friday 20 November and 06:00 on Monday 23 November. If you use commercial software you will experience a delay in receiving your online acknowledgement during this time. Your acknowledgement will be sent once the service is restored. Please do not attempt to resubmit your submission. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

So why is their downtime on the weekend? This is the message currently on their website. Surely it's more expensive for them to employ people to run the upgrades during the weekend and if it is indeed more inconvenient for the typical end user (i.e. me) why foot this cost? I think it's because no one has bothered thinking about it. They're not a business and the responsibility to submit a return is not theirs, it's ours. They know we haven't got a choice but to pay. Their IT contractors always upgrade systems on weekends and therefore they're just using the same formula. No one cares if the end user is inconvenienced.